Blogs about the life of the real Jesus whose name was Yeshua. Learn about his life in Galilee, Samaria and Judea. Discover what his words and actions meant by viewing them through the eyes of his Jewish culture.

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work of the Biblical Heritage Center on the Real Yeshua. It must be made online
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Yeshua
was born into a society traumatized by violence. His life was framed by
revolts. The uprisings after Herod’s death occurred in the year of his birth,
and he was brought up in the hamlet of Nazareth, only a few miles from
Sepphoris, which Varus had razed to the ground; the peasants’ strike against
Caligula would occur just ten years after his death. During
his lifetime, Galilee was governed by Herod Antipas, who financed an expensive
building program by imposing heavy taxes on his Galilean subjects. Failure to
pay was punished by foreclosure and confiscation of land, and this revenue
swelled the huge estates of the Herodian aristocrats. When they lost their land, some peasants were
forced into banditry, while others — Yeshua’s father, the carpenter Joseph,
perhaps, among them — turned to menial labor: artisans were often failed
peasants. The crowds who
thronged around Yeshua in Galilee were hungry, distressed, and sick. In his
parables we see a society split between the very ri…

The
Church was a new phenomenon in the Roman Empire. Christians had exploited the
empire’s improved communications to create an institution with a unity of
structure that none of the other faith traditions had attempted by the third
century. Each local church was headed by a bishop, the “overseer” who was said
to derive his authority from Jesus’s apostles, and was supported by presbyters
and deacons. The network of such near-identical communities seemed almost to
have become an empire within the empire. Irenaeus,
the bishop of Lyons (c. 130-200), who was anxious to create an orthodoxy
that excluded aggressive sectarians, had claimed that the Great Church
had a single Rule of Faith, because the bishops had inherited their
teaching directly from the apostles. This was not only a novel idea but a
total fantasy. Paul’s letters show that there had been considerable tension
between him and Jesus’s disciples, and his teachings bore little relation to
those of Jesus. Each of the Synoptic Gosp…

“Once upon a time a Preacher, Professor &
Rabbi . . .” sounds like the beginning of a good joke, but in this case it is
the beginning of a twenty-five journey. I am the preacher, Dr. Ike Tennison is the Professor and the Rabbi is Jeffrey Leynor. Our destination was to
more accurately understand the words of our Bibles and the histories of our
religions – Christianity and Judaism.
We specifically wanted to focus on the first century CE when both of our
religions were Jewish sects and part of Second Temple Judaism and learn more
about how one of those sects – the Jesus
Movement – became a universal Gentile religion, and the other – the Pharisees – became Rabbinic Judaism.
What we discovered, however, is much more important than what we planned.
Today, the social bonds that are required to hold Americans together and make
it possible for our democracy to exist are breaking down and many of the
problems we face – political, economic
and religious – are the result. We believe that what…

It
wasn’t until the late fourth century that the church fathers could agree on the
date of Christ’s birth – unlike the pagan Romans, Christians tended to give no
importance to anyone’s birthday. The big day in the Christian religious
calendar was Easter. Nevertheless, eventually the church settled on 25 December
as the date of Christ’s nativity. For the Christians, it was a holy day, not a
holiday, and they wanted the period to be sombre and distinguished from the
pagan Saturnalia traditions such as gambling, drinking, and of course, most of
all, worshipping a pagan god! Read the complete article at -- http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-christmas

There were not three Magi. The number is not
specified. It is only stated that they brought three types of gifts, gold,
frankincense and myrrh. We can say with near certainty that there were not
three but many thousands!The
answers are clear once we understand the dilemma faced by the Roman State
Church founded under Constantine in the 300s CE.It was excruciatingly painful for the
priests of the Roman ‘Mother Church’ to explain why the Magi of Persia had
worshiped the infant Jesus and the Roman Empire had destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple. Parthia worshiped Jesus. Rome pillaged Jerusalem and destroyed the
Jews. How could Romans justify a Christian heritage? The Roman Mother Church
therefore blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus although the crucifixion was
conducted by Roman soldiers, under Roman imperial authority and with Roman
nails. Read the complete article at -- http://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Truth-Beyond-Price/Why-the-Magi-got-a-bad-press-437132

Surprising
archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’s
time—and the revolution he launched 2,000 years ago. The Gospels say that Jesus
taught and “proclaimed the good news” in synagogues “throughout all Galilee.”
But despite decades of digging in the towns Jesus visited, no early
first-century synagogue had ever been found. For historians, this was not
a serious problem. Galilean Jews were a week’s walk from Jerusalem, close
enough for regular pilgrimages to Herod the Great’s magnificent temple,
Judaism’s central house of worship. Galileans, mostly poor peasants and
fishermen, had neither the need nor the funds for some local spinoff.
Synagogues, as we understand them today, did not appear anywhere in great
numbers until several hundred years later. If there were any in Galilee in
Jesus’s day, they were perhaps just ordinary houses that doubled as meeting
places for local Jews. Some scholars argued that the “synagogues” in the New
Testament were nothi…

Jesus
and Paul were executed for the primary charge of blasphemy against Judaism,
even though some biblical scholars claim that the charges were bogus — not
blasphemous by Jewish law and tradition. In both instances, the charges were made
by the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Judaism. The Roman authorities referred
both cases to the Jewish authorities because “the charges were Jewish matters.”
If Jesus didn’t launch Christianity, if Paul didn’t, who did? More puzzling,
how did Christianity get away from Judaism? Interesting questions that beg for
fresh thinking. Questions that psychologists, sociologists and historians may
be more suited to investigate than theologians or biblical scholars, who are
mired in traditional frames of reference. Read the complete article at -- http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/03/a-psychologist-replays-the-trials-of-jesus-and-paul-and-uncovers-surprising-revelations-about-judaism/#

The
Bible opens with the famous creation accounts, but few probably realize that
these are also the Bible’s first lessons about love – the love of the Creator. These
are lessons that are well worth learning and sharing with others, because if
there is one thing our lives and world urgently need now – it’s the presence of
the Creator’s love. See if you recognize the Creator’s in the real salvation
message of Jesus (you won’t hear it at a church). Click on this article at -- http://www.myerscommunications.us/biblical-heritage-center-resources-page.html

Lessons About Prayer from the Jewish Culture of
Yeshua Series #3 The Times for
Prayer Now Peter and
John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninthhour. (Acts 3:1) What
time was the ninth hour? The following information from To Pray as a Jew provides us with important insights about this topic. The Times for Prayer When Ezra the Scribe and the Men of the
Great Assembly prescribed the number of prayer services for each day, they also
fixed the time framework in which to say them. The official time for the various services was set to correspond to the
time that the daily communal offerings were brought in the Temple. An Explanation of the ‘Variable Hour” (Sha-ah
Zemanit) In order to understand how the exact
time parameters of the daily services are fixed, one must begin by knowing that
wherever the Mishnah or later halakhic
sources referred to the time of the day, they were not referring to a fixed
hour, nor, when they used the term “hour” did they mean our constant in…

Lessons About Prayer from the Jewish Culture of
Yeshua Series #2 Prayers That
Will Not Be Answered The Talmud tells us that God will not
answer some kinds of prayer. God will not answer a prayer: that is: (1) that
is not sincere (2) that
asks Him to break one of His own laws (3) that
asks for Him to do what we ourselves should be doing (4) that
asks Him to help us by hurting others There are two partners in prayer, man
and God. Prayer does not always work in the way we want it to or think that it
will. God is concerned with every one of His creatures. There is a great
difference between speaking magic words and saying a prayer. In magic we
believe that we can force something to happen. In prayer, we know that we are
not the boss. In prayer we are trying to “get in touch with” God; not trying to
force God to obey us. We must also remember that sometimes the
answer to our prayer may be “No.” If
you found this information useful, please let us know by going to The Real Yeshua Facebook page by C…

Lessons About Prayer from the Jewish Culture of
Yeshua Series #1 Whom Should I
Thank? Once a boy who had just eaten lunch
turned to his mother and said, “Thank you very much.” But his mother said, “You
should not thank me alone, for I only prepared the food.” The boy wondered, “Whom should I thank?”
He went to the grocery store and saw the grocer. “Thank you, Mr. Grocer, for the very fine
bread that I ate at lunchtime.” “Oh,”
said the grocer, “you should not thank me alone. I only sell the bread. I do
not bake it.” So the boy went to the bakery where all
the bread was made; and there he saw the baker. “Mr. Baker,” the boy said, “I
want to thank you for the wonderful bread that you bake. The baker laughed and
said, “I bake the bread, but it is good because the flour is good. And the flour
comes from the miller who grinds it.” “Then I will thank the miller,” said the
boy and he turned to leave. “But the
miller only grinds the wheat,” the baker said. “It is the farmer who grows the
grain …

Prayer
is the human side of an unending dialog between God and man. It is through the Scriptures
that God speaks to man. Man’s response to God is prayer. Most Hebrew prayers
are expressions of adoration and gratitude. They are prayers of thanksgiving
and praise for God’s boundless mercy and goodness, for His providential love
and beneficence to all His creatures. Prayers also play an educational role,
especially petitionary prayers. Petitionary prayers voice our needs, and they
ask for deliverance from the various afflictions that beset us in the world.
The function of petitionary prayer is to make us more conscious of our
dependence on God, that we may thereby become more receptive to divine
influences. God answers petitionary prayer, but not necessarily according to
our specifications. Man
and God are partners in the work of creation; therefore man must be a co-worker
with God in the struggle against the deficiencies which challenge him. (1) We
cannot expect God to overrule the laws …

Dr.
James Tabor’s latest blog provides a wealth of information about a subject that
Christians have debated for almost 2,000 years now. Regardless of what one’s
beliefs about Jesus are, it must be clearly understood that other Christians
have held – and do hold -- other beliefs about it. Or, as we like to say, “many
different memes have been attached to Yeshua over the centuries.” Dr. Tabor
provides a good chronological presentation for that memetic evolution. Below
are a few quotes from the blog. For untold millions of Christians asking
the “Lord” for guidance, help, and evensalvationis a complex and confusing
business.Part of the
confusion is that the God of the Hebrew Bible, who mostly goes by the name
Yahweh/Yehovah, is referred to as “the LORD.”The
problem comes with the New Testament in which Jesus isalsocommonly referred to as “the
Lord.”So far as the Jesus
movement goes our earliest evidence for this practice of conflating the name of
God–i.e., Yahweh, with that of Jesus–that i…

Elul: A Time of
Repairing and Creating Shalom One
of the most important teachings of Yeshua isn’t taught in most churches, but
you will find it in most Twelve-Step programs. Pay close attention to the words
of Yeshua (highlighting added to stress specific words): Therefore if you bring your QORBAN to the ALTAR, and THERE you REMEMBER that your brother has
something AGAINST you, leave your QORBAN there, before the altar, and FIRST be reconciled to your brother,
and THEN come and offer your QORBAN. (Matthew 5:23-24) Yeshua
was clearly addressing people who understood what he was talking about because
it was something they and everyone they knew did. The Temple’s sacrificial
rituals were part of Jewish life. QORBAN
is usually translated as "sacrifice"
or "offering.” In 21st
century America, both words are understood to be an act in which the one
presenting the QORBANlosses or gives up something. But,
in Yeshua’s world, the meaning of the root of QORBAN was understood -- QRB
me…

Scholars
are aware of the rich and diverse ways in which the term "Son of God"
is used in the Hebrew Bible, in subsequent Jewish literature, and in the New
Testament writings themselves, not to mention various non-Jewish texts
(including inscriptions and coins) of the Greco-Roman period. Most of us who
teach in the field of Christian Origins get asked from time to time by students
or in public lectures, "Professor, do you believe Jesus was X."
Sometimes X is "Messiah," other times it is "Divine," but
in my experience, most often, the question is "Do you believe that Jesus
was the Son of God." In good Socratic fashion one is tempted to reply,
"Well what do you mean by the term 'Son of God,' and such a counter
question is certainly more than subterfuge. Here is a listing of most of the
complex ways in which that term is used in the Christian Bible and other
related traditions. Read the complete article at -- http://www.huffi…

I
discovered, with Renaissance images of Jesus, his family and followers. In one
respect a vast trove of Renaissance artworks inspire devotion and intensify
faith in Christianity. On another level, though, they falsify biblical history and
reinforce the divide between Christians and Jews, which has had lethal
consequences for Jews over many centuries. The falsifications were all the more
compelling because they were made subtly, by omission. What has been omitted is
Jesus' Jewish identity. You can walk through gallery after gallery in museums
around the world, as I have, and you will rarely see any evidence that Jesus
was a Jew or had any connection to Judaism or to the Middle East where he was
born and where he preached. Indeed, he is typically pictured as Northern
European in appearance, with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. And you will
likely find him and his family and followers in regal attire, in palatial
Renaissance settings, surrounded by symbols of a religion -- Chr…

The
movement Jesus eventually forged had attractions for those who identified with
the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes or Zealots. Jesus had his share of sympathizers
even among the Pharisees. Under the reign of Jesus’s brother James, large
numbers of Pharisees identified with the movement that John the Baptizer and
Jesus had inaugurated. As surprising as it sounds to modern ears, there were in
fact Nazarene or “Christian Pharisees” – and lots of them. Luke reveals that “large
numbers: of Sadducean priests in Jerusalem became part of the movement even
though Jesus seems to the least in common with the Sadducees. Even though the
Essenes had a much more rigid interpretation of the Torah than Jesus, there
were surely some who must have identified with the apocalyptic excitement that
John the Baptizer and Jesus began to ignite all over the country. When we grasp
the history, core values, and mythological world of this movement we will be
able to place Jesus properly within the incredible di…

Four
religious sects or parties existed in Israel at that time: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Herodians. The most prominent were the
Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees
were the most popular sect; their main focus was on the primacy of the Torah,
and their leaders were the expert interpreters of the Torah. The most
conservative Sadducees, who represented an older establishment of priests,
aristocrats, and wealthier merchants, had less influence on the religious views
of the larger community, but they dominated the Temple worship and the
Sanhedrin, the central religious council based in the Temple. The other two sects were the Essenes, a pious
brotherhood of separatists, who lived in isolated monastic communities in the
desert, and the Herodians, a religious party allied to Herod the Great.

Ponder is defined as “to consider something
deeply and thoroughly; weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully.”[1]
Something I have done a lot of pondering about began when I became aware of the
stats below. (1) Christians
trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus, the founder of a small Jewish
sect in Palestine in 30 CE. (2) In 1970,
there were 1,130,000,000 affiliated Christians who belonged to 1,449,600 congregations/churches
of 18,630 denominations / paradenominations.[2]
Paradenominations have existed since the 19th century, operating alongside
denominations, crossing boundaries and enabling joint efforts between various
groups.[3] (3) In 2000,
there were 1,888,000.000 affiliated Christians who belonged to 3,447,900
congregations/churches of 33,820 denominations / paradenominations.[4] (4) In 2000
there were 322 Baptist denominations alone.[5] Some
things to ponder: (1) How did a
single exclusively Jewish sect in Palestine become 33,820 denominations / paradenominations
wi…

My friend and TOV Center Partner, Jim Myers,
received a 6 page list of Biblical quotes in a reaction to his blog about the Real
Yeshua -- Jesus the Jewish
teacher. I noticed after reading through this huge list, that the point of
the writer was to convince and prove his "RIGHTNESS." This sense of
"RIGHTNESS" is something I've experienced my entire life. Many people
are absolutely sure that what they "BELIEVE" is "RIGHT!" So
many expend their energy on defending their BS (Belief System), some even go to
the point of killing others. The real crime, however, is that they ignore and do
not practice the Values and Lessons that the Jewish Jesus taught – and are clearly recorded in those same
Scriptures. Read Rabbi Leynor’s blog at -- http://tovcenter.blogspot.com/2015/06/being-right-vs-acting-righteously.html

The history of the name “Jesus”
begins in the Torah in the account in which Yahweh commanded Moses to choose
one man from each of the twelve tribes to spy out the land
of Canaan. Of
the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea[1] the son of Nun . . .These are the
names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Yehoshua.[2] The root word of Hoshea
is HOSHUA,
which means "salvation." It
is important to understand that "salvation" in the Hebrew Scriptures
or the Jewish culture did not mean “go
to Heaven after death.” It meant “being
delivered from some danger or threat.” When Moses changed Hoshea to Yehoshua
the meaning of the name changed to "Yahweh-is-Salvation." When the spies reported back to Moses ten of
them delivered the following report: “The land
through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and
all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the
giants (the descendants…